


Sonic's College Chronicles

by NemuiNingen



Category: Sonic X, Sonic the Hedgehog (Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Boys' Love, Drunk Sex, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Fraternities & Sororities, Gyms, Jock Straps, Jogging Shorts, M/M, Punk, Self-Loathing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:55:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27006187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NemuiNingen/pseuds/NemuiNingen
Summary: In a time where everyone is growing into young adulthood, Sonic and friends begin navigating the world, finding their passions, their love, and themselves. You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and you can't get through life without getting arrested once or twice or a few STDs. It's every potentially bad setup rolled into one!Never thought I'd be writing Sonic fanfiction, but I had ideas and got bored.
Relationships: Espio the Chameleon/Sonic the Hedgehog, Jet the Hawk/Knuckles the Echidna, Shadow the Hedgehog/Silver the Hedgehog
Kudos: 9





	1. Shadow and Silver I

**Author's Note:**

> To clarify a few things, I'll be writing everything as I think of it all. I may not post things in chronological order, but will at least make note of when things take place in the overall timeline of events if needed. With a few exceptions (Tails and Cream) everyone's original age gap remains the same, but are all aged up to be college-age. Tails and Cream have been aged up to be the same age as Sonic and Amy, respectively. Also, everyone in this fanfic is human.

“Top o’ the mornin’ to ya!” Irish said cheerfully as ever with a spring in his step. He hopped behind the counter and into the back office of the cafe. Chipper as ever, he hung his coat, punched in his number, and straightened himself up to grab a headset before stepping out onto the floor.

“Why Silver- young lad, haven’t had a cuppa today, ‘ave ya? You’re looking as sick as a box of frogs.”

Every day, Silver had to put with this. The same shift, opening at the cafe in Station Square, and every day having to hear the same snarky comments that he could barely understand from his boss. He groaned softly to himself as he tilted his head to give a half-forced grin to his boss. “Come on, Irish. I’m not one for coffee. You know that.” He paused, covering his mouth as he yawned. “Just stayed up late studying, was all.”

“Well then have yourself a tea. A few drops will wake you quicker than ??????? and before you know it ?????? embox ????? you know?”

Silver could only stare at Irish with a blank look on his face before giving a slow nod. “Sure thing. I’ll get right now as soon as I can.” It was the best he could- just pretend he understood and keep working. It wasn’t like he hated his boss or even his job. It was just at this point Silver was getting a little tired of the same boring routine every day, same bad jokes from his coworkers, same job at ARKbucks, and same one-track response for it all. College time was something he had thought would be an adventure, where everyone was supposed to try new things, yet so far he was two years in, and hardly anything had changed since graduating high school, minus a dorm room and classes.

He turned back to the next customer who had just walked in and- ah! This person. “Hey there. Uh- nice to see you again,” he said, a bit awkward. Though he didn’t hate this person, Silver did always find them to be a bit of an odd one by how he spoke. Supposedly he and the manager were good friends. Silver tapped a button on his headset. “Hey, Irish. Uh- Bigg is here to see you.”

“Coming!” In a flash, Irish had zipped over to say hello. “Why, how’s the big size are yuh, Big? Let me roast up the normal muttonchop for you and get you on your way!”

“Uehhhhh...thANK YOUUuuUU!” he said with a dumbfounded smile on his face before fishing into his back for his wallet.

That was one usual customer that Silver would probably never fully understand. He sighed and shook his head as he wiped the sweat from his brow. When he looked up, another regular was stepping up to the counter. Silver’s mood shifted, and he relaxed more. “Hi. Black coffee, dark roast, right?” Silver perked a bit as the customer nodded. He swiped a large cup from a tall stack by the drip-coffee machine and pulled a pen from his apron and scribbled the customer’s name on the side.

_ Shadow. _

It hardly mattered since the drip-coffee was passed out immediately when ordered, but Shadow had been coming in every Saturday and Sunday for over a year. It would feel wrong to not write his name like anyone else's. Within seconds the cup was full and lidded. “Will that be all for you today?” he asked as he punched into Shadow’s total.

His eyes lingered on the pastry case momentarily before fishing into his wallet, connected by a long chain to his belt. “Could I also have a ham and cheese croissant?” 

Silver blinked momentarily before nodding his head and punching it in. “Yeah, sure thing! Do you want it heated up?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Alright. We’ll call your name when it’s ready. Here’s your coffee...Shadow.”

Shadow handed him a few dollar bills and stuffed the change in his pocket as he took his usual drink. “Thanks, Silver.” He walked off, taking his usual table and plugging in his headphones to his laptop.

Besides the croissant, that had been their routine every weekend. Shadow would order the same drink, give a simple hello, and then sit on the bar by the window, doing his work on his computer with his headphones in. It was hard to miss him, Silver had always thought. Between never wearing anything but black, and having spiked hair with red streaks running through it, well...Silver found him unique. Everyone he had ever met was so bright and colorful. Blaze dressed exclusively in soft pastels and Sonic’s hair was a deep blue!

Even himself, with silver locks, combed back under his hat, still had lines of electric blue in his wardrobe.

Shadow? He just seemed so cool to him.

“Silver, me boy! How the tickle are ya? Starrin’ off into the asteroids like you got an eighth wonder grog brewing inside ya! Now it’s about time for ya to be skipping onto your break.” Irish grabbed the tongs and pulled the ham and cheese from the oven, which Silver was quick to snag from him.

“I-it’s alright! I’ll take it out to him. Heh! Actually lemme get a coffee before I go. Maybe I could use one, after all.” A moment later, Silver had poured himself a small black coffee with a few packs of sweetener clutched between his fingers.

* * *

“Here you are,” he said, holding the small pastry bag out before Shadow. With both hands full and Shadow wearing his headphones, there was little room for him to call his name or tap his shoulder.

It caught his attention, making him lean back on the stool before he removed his headphones and looked over at Silver. “Oh! Thank you,” he said with a slight nod as he took the pastry bag and turned his attention back to his computer. The screen caught Silver’s eye, noting the color bars and control panel below. Immediately he recognized what he was doing.

He looked around quickly, noting no other space was available to sit in the cafe space and took the empty stool beside Shadow. “You make music?” he asked.

Shadow gave a slight nod as he took a sip from his cup. “Yeah. I’m working on my band’s demo CD right now. We don’t have any recording space so it’s all just pre-generated sounds for the moment.”

“What do you mean? What kind of music is it?” Silver sipped his cup and almost immediately wanted to spit it back into the cup. Even with sugar, it was so bitter he couldn’t stand it.

Shadow’s eyes flickered for a moment as a smirk plastered on his face. “Want to listen?” he offered over his headphones. A quick bite of his food and the second Silver had the headphones on he pressed play.

His ears popped, and his spine straightened. Silver felt the world around him engulfed by shredding guitars clashing with off-beat drums. It was...a little hard to listen to, as much as Silver didn’t want to admit it. Still, he couldn’t help but think it sounded similar to what Blaze had tried to show him a few times when they were in high school. Unable to see it himself, but Silver had a blank look on his face as if he wasn’t sure how he felt about it, nodding slowly and tilting his head from side to side as he continued to take tiny sips from his cup.

“Not bad,” he said with a nervous smile when his ears were free. “So you’re in a band?”

“Heh. What of it?” Shadow said sarcastically before tinkering with a few colored bars in his program. “There is still a lot of groundwork to be done, but yeah. There are four of us if you count our manager. But she just makes sure we have a timeslot in small local bars and clubs every weekend.”

"That's still impressive. I think so, at least! It all suits you well, anyway."

"Are you mocking me?" he leered, turning his head at Silver with eyes aimed to kill.

Silver raised a hand in protest. "What? No way! I just thought that kinda music matched you. I mean," he paused, scanning Shadow over. "You dress really dark. It's kind of cool!"

Shadow's grin stretched into a full-scale smile before he shifted in his seat, crossing his arms. "I'm the coolest!"

They were both silent for a moment until Silver chuckled. A laugh was shared as they eased into further conversation. Music. Work. Hobbies. Time was beginning to slip by then and before they knew it, the alarm on Silver’s watch was beeping, telling him that his break was over.

“Alright. I have to return to the counter. It was nice getting to talk to you, Shadow.”

“Likewise. If you’re free tonight, maybe you should come check us out. We’re playing at Metal CD tonight.”

Silver thought for a moment. “If I can. I have a test on Monday, so I really should study more than anything but hey! Let’s trade LINK IDs. I’ll message you if I can make it!”

Shadow crossed his arms and fished his phone out from his jacket’s inner pocket. “Heh, you better come, or else I might just have to go to another cafe every weekend.” He held up his QR code for Silver to scan and waited for the LINK request to register before putting his phone away, smiling.

“No one would believe that threat. I’ll see you here next week no matter what! See you around, Shadow!” he waved as he dumped his trash in the bin and went back to clock in. Every so often between work, Silver would steal a glance over to Shadow’s backside, watching him hard at work with his headphones on, thinking.

_ I could just study extra hard tomorrow, couldn’t I? _


	2. Sonic and Espio I

“Tails, I mean it. I can’t stand living with him and it’s only been a few days! Hell, it feels like that guy is buggin’ me on purpose, I swear!”

Sonic gripped, slamming his fists lightly onto the iron cafe table, sighing. “Come on, buddy. I’m begging you! It’s not too late to put in a new room request. We can find something that’ll work! Please! Let’s just live together like last year! It’ll be like old times.”

“Don’t those times have to be old to be called such? We were living together not even 6 months ago.” Tails raised a brow as he looked up from his tablet, having been reading the preface of his engineering textbook and taking notes. “Sonic, listen. I’m really sorry but I don’t think it’s going to work out this year. I got a private dorm for a reason. This year I’m doing a lot more work! The kind of stuff I’ll be bringing home every week and working on overnight. We had fun last year, but this year it wouldn’t be good for either of us.”

Sonic set down his protein smoothie as he pinched his brows together, annoyed. Desperate, he leaned over the table, clawing at Tails. “Come on, you don’t think that, do you? I know that your classes can be demanding at times, but how rough can it be? This is only our second year.”

“I’m taking advanced classes, Sonic, remember?”

“So? What does that have to do with it? We survived the first year living together, didn’t we?”

“It means my core is mostly finished. I didn’t have to take classes pre-calc in my first semester. That’s why I was doing more programming and robotics classes. Now I’m already starting my 3rd-year level classes.”

Sonic didn’t respond. In high school, Sonic had always relied on Tails to tutor him when he had struggled in most subjects because he had always been the brains of the two. However, he hadn’t thought it would eventually create a divide between them. They got into the same university, in the end. He just blinked and put his mouth on the straw of his drink, sucking away at the near-empty plastic cup. Tails was that far ahead of him? In the back of his head, surely he would have known that a gap would eventually form between them, but to happen now? Before they had even graduated?

For a moment, he was forgetting about his roommate troubles.

“Listen, Sonic! We’re still friends, and I’m not saying you can’t come over. I want to hang with you just like we always have. You can even crash on my couch when needed, but as a whole, this is the best thing for me.” Tails made a few more taps on his tablet before flipping the protective cover over the screen and slipping it into his bag. “Come by whenever you want. Just let me know when, alright? I have to get going. My next lap-class is happening, soon.” He threw his back over his shoulder, picked up his empty cup, and headed for the trashcans before leaving the patio of the cafe.

Sonic stayed there, thinking it all over. At this rate, Tails would graduate a year before him right beside Knuckles. Then what? If Amy or Cream didn’t enroll in the same university then he’d be all alone, stuck with whatever roommate he gets paired up with by the housing department. Their first year had been chaos, already with very few new friendships made, and now Sonic was starting the second year, watching all his friends, for the first time, speeding far ahead of him. It felt like they were leaving him in their dust…

His watch beeped, reminding him of his class coming up. Sonic turned a downward gaze to his unfinished drink, half-melted in the clear cup. His stomach winced, feeling slightly sick, no doubt from the combined thoughts of shame, worry, and doubt. Since coming to college, Sonic had been more out of his element than he ever had. Everything felt natural back in high school when he was the star of the track team and leading his senior class against a school-wide prank against Dr. Eggman, the teacher that no one liked. Now he wasn’t the star. He was...just Sonic: a second-year student at a university with thousands of others enrolled, each doing their own thing.

He gathered his belongings and threw the rest of his smoothie away, heading for the Recreational Center and Gym. It wasn’t exactly class, but he had the orientation of new members for the track and field team to attend. As he walked over, Sonic shook himself about, telling himself to push his worries aside for a moment. Right now, it was time to be that bright, energetic, and fearless sprinter that everyone knew and loved. He had to give all the new members a confident team member to look up to and admire!

* * *

“Alright, everybody! It’s time to welcome new members. Right and sprung like a river dancer's feet, now! Let’s prance away ??????? and the rest of a good year to us all!” Irish declared when orientation was underway. It wasn’t the most formal event, but then again, Irish wasn’t a formal coach.

“Come on out now, lads. No use playin’ in the garden all day! Say your name and ???? skippin’ across the Green Hills ?????? in ??????’s armpit!”

That was their couch for them. The new members would have to get used to it and learn to fill in the gaps between Irish’s sharp tongue and foreign metaphors quickly. Sonic waited patiently, focusing on the new track members he’d be training and competing with for the year, trying his hardest not to let his thoughts run on repeat from earlier at the cafe. 

He went down the line, letting their names go in one ear and out the other until his eyes met with someone near the center of the group. They were the first year, by the looks of them, and with purple hair. His eyes were striking, holding a serious, arguably angry stare in them, and they were aimed directly at Sonic. Did he have something on his face? Or was this new guy distracted by Sonic’s refusal to wear a tracksuit like the rest of the team?

“Espio,” the purple-haired boy spoke when it was his time to introduce himself. “Nice to meet you all.” That was all Espio had said, and then stepped back in line.

The introductions continued and before long they were setting for a few practice races to get a feel for everyone’s skill level, but also to mingle among each other. 

Sonic behaved as he had promised himself, giving everyone the explosive, optimistic energy they expected from him.  _ Let them like you, and then be hard to forget.  _ That had always been what Sonic had told himself. Yet there was one person who he hadn’t seen since orientation. Even as he looked around, it seemed Espio had disappeared. Had he been confused and left early? Had there been a personal emergency? That would have explained the sour he had.

He shrugged it off and got ready on the starting line with the other racers and got a few stretches in. Sonic had no shame in himself, being the only one to rock a pair of blue and white-striped jogging shorts and a tank top while everyone else chose sweats. The Blue Blur, as he had been nicknamed, just hated wearing pants on any occasion. If he didn’t  _ have  _ to have his legs covered, then he wasn’t going to, and this was no exception. Legs shaved, thighs out, and hamstrings stretched, Sonic was ready to race, hop-stepping back and forth until the coach blew the whistle.

Out of the corner of his eye, Espio stepped up next to him, and grind his black sneakers against the soft pavement as he took to the starting line. The other paid no attention to anyone beside him, keeping his eyes closed and stance tight. Sonic glanced over at him. “Yo,” he said cheerfully with a nod.

Espio didn’t respond.

The gun was fired and the racers took off. Sonic was in the lead to no one’s surprise but the new sprinters were proving to hold their ground between each other. He grinned as he looked forward, cocky, and confident as ever. “Too easy,” he said. A quick sprint was nothing to him. This would be over in a flash and then he’d play it cool like he almost lost to whoever was behind him so he wouldn’t look too much like a- HUH?!

Sonic blinked when a flash of purple whizzed right past him. It was Espio! When had he- it didn’t matter! Sonic wasn’t about to lose to some new guy in their first race! He picked up his pace, taking longer strides, and just like that, Sonic closed the distance and took the lead once again just in time to cross over the finish line. He panted swiftly, leaning over with his hands on his knees. Yet he still grinned and wiped the sweat from his brows as he stood up.

“Hey, not bad! You almost had me beat there,” he said with his hand outreached to shake.

Espio only glared at him out of the corner of his eye, hardly moving. “Don’t take me lightly. If you’re going to race me then do it with all you have from the start.” That was the thing he had said to Sonic- to anyone since their introduction.

He was dumbfounded, staring wide-eyed at Espio as his hand slowly went limp, and then sank to his side. Sonic took a step back, but then quickly shook his surprise off himself. “What are you talking about? I won, didn’t I? Come on! I’m just congratulating you.”

“You took it easy from the start. I could tell by the tension in your leg that you weren’t using all your speed. Aren’t you supposed to be a sprinter?”

Again, Sonic didn’t know how to respond right away. He paused. “Well yeah, but we’re just having a friendly practice. It’s not the real thing so-”

“So you just take it easy, and mock those behind you working their hardest.”

The tension was thick. The look in Espio’s eyes were sharp- staring daggers right into Sonic’s soul.

“Espio! Sonic! The twos of yuh are fightin’ like two leprechauns under the same rainbow. There’ll be a spot o’ bad luck' on y’ere ?????? ????? ????????????? So it’s ????? time to ?????????”

Just then, a large, friendly-looking fellow skidded by in a purple rack uniform, going at a snail’s pace.

“Mr. Big, please! Now’s not the time for y’ere skippin’ and hoppin’ along the lilypads like an April frog. Please, ??????? so can you ????? ?????? ??????”

As their coach chased after the odd intruder, the two rivals shared a look of conflict. Sonic shook his hands into fists at his hip. “You want me to give it my all then just wait! You had your chance to win but now it won’t come easy.”

Espio only sneered at him and walked off, getting ready for the next race.

Their little spat would evolve into a full afternoon rivalry. Sonic may have won on a foot-race, but once they got to the advanced competitions, Espio was proving himself not to be taken lightly. Pole vaulting- Espio won by several centimeters. Speed climbing- Espio practically vertically ran the entire wall. Obstacle course? - He left Sonic in the dust. Even if Espio wasn’t the fastest of the two, he was undeniably more agile and quick-witted. Odds are if they faced each other in a race with jumping obstacles in place, Espio would have a fair shot at beating him.

Sonic was panting as he hunched over his knees after it all came to an end. He didn’t need to see the overall score to know where he stood, compared to everyone else. Or, more specifically, where he stood compared to his biggest competition. He would be the last one to leave the gym, taking more time in a private shower tall than anyone else, leaning against the cold tile wall as he replayed the entire day over in his head. His conversation with Tails and uncertainty of his future to Espio made a fool out of him on the first day of practice...his perfect life felt like it had been laid to ruins in a matter of hours. 

He changed out his running clothes and threw his backpack over his shoulder. A heavy feeling loomed over him as he dragged himself over to the mess hall to grab something to eat. He tapped on his phone screen to pull up LINK to check in on the others. A few quick messages were sent and his heart sank even lower when Tails responded that he had to work late and couldn’t meet up with him. Knuckles never responded.

_ Just get some food. Relax. And then let’s go back to our dorm,  _ he told himself. 

It wasn’t the best, but he didn’t mind what the cafeteria offered. If nothing else, you couldn’t go wrong with the salad bar. Yet, with how crummy his day had been, Sonic decided not to shy away from his comfort food: chili dog. For a second, he snickered at the thought of stuffing his face full of them and then letting his roommate suffer as he farted the entire night. That would show him! Yeah. He would stink up the dorm room every night until that annoying nerd moved out on his own! It was the perfect plan. At least one problem would be taken care of. Sonic could worry about Espio tomorrow, and what the hell he’d do with his future after next practice. Until then he’d treat himself to several hot, savory, spicy, god-given chili- wait what?!

He shook his head as his eyes adjusted and honed in across the dining hall. A hat was sitting on the edge of a table where two people sat. Not just any hat! It was a dark tan cowboy hat with a belt around it, and three red stars. Sonic would recognize that hat anywhere! It was Knuckles’s! And there he was, sitting down right across from...who the hell was THAT?!

Sonic was confused and quickly dug into his pocket for his phone to check the screen and see if-- yeah. Knuckles hadn’t responded. The message wasn’t even marked on read. If Knuckles had come here then why hadn’t he invited Sonic to begin with? Had he just swiped the notification away? Why was he with a total stranger? A new friend? Just the sight of it made Sonic’s stomach twist. They had almost always eaten together, ever since lunchtime way back in Middle School! And now he was seeing Knuckles buddying up with some unfamiliar face who was sporting a  _ green mohawk?!  _ Since when was Knuckles into punks?!

That was  **_IT!_ **

Sonic was going to march right over there, grab one of his chili dogs and...and...turn around and go sit alone at one of the small tables in a corner somewhere. He couldn’t take any more disappointment for today. That feeling from earlier had since evolved from a cloud looming over, to a stone in the pit of his guts.

Not even a week into his second year and already it felt like his friends were moving on from him. Sonic didn’t want to eat with Knuckles or Tails, or anyone else for that matter. He didn’t want to go back to his dorm room. He didn’t want to go to practice the next day. He just wanted everything to go back to how it was before all this - back to High School; where he had been the star of the track team, where Tails had helped him get by with Cs and Bs in most classes, and where not a single day went by without his friends by his side.

Ever since graduation, it felt like nothing had been the same. It just wasn’t until now that he could no longer ignore it. Everything around him was changing and he couldn’t stop it, no matter what. Sonic stared at his food, growing cold as every worst-case scenario played in his head. Where would he be by the end of this year? By graduation? Would he even graduate college? How long until Tails was offered a job and moved to a major city to be a tech developer? How long until Knuckles embarked to foreign countries to excavate ruins and tombs? How long until Shadow’s band took off for world fame?

Pretty soon it would be just him with Amy and Cream. But who was to say they wouldn’t eventually surpass him and move on like everyone else?

“What am I supposed to do?”


	3. Shadow and Silver II

“Still only seeing you here and never in the crowd,” Shadow said through a sarcastic smirk. “Too busy studying again?”

“Yeah, well college means I don’t have a lot of free time. I promise I’ll come next time. That’s why I’m here today!” Silver plopped his backpack down on the small on the floor beside his chair and began fishing out his textbooks,

Shadow raised a brow before tapping the pause button on his keyboard and pulled his headphones off. “Wait, hmm? You mean you don’t have to work today?”

He shook his head. “Nope. New schedule. This week they gave me the weekend off. So I just decided to come here to study.”

Again, Shadow raised a brow at him.

“What? Want me to go away? Need the whole table to yourself?” He took off his hat and shook his hair out. Silver ran his fingers through his locks, happy to finally not have his spikes flattened and squished under his work hat.

It caught Shadow’s attention. He had never seen Silver out of his work uniform, the more he thought about it. In fact, no he couldn’t recall what he would have expected from the other guy sitting across the table from him. Silver dressed in black boots and a slim coat with white trim. His hair was thick and almost white! 

Slowly, Shadow shook his head. “Hmph. Don't do what you want. Waste your time on your off-day.”

Silver only grinned and pulled out his tablet to take notes as he started reading. It wasn’t time wasted if he wanted to be there.

The two sat across from each other in silence, mostly. Shadow continued fiddling on his laptop with his headphones only halfway on and Silver was tapping away and highlighting passages in his textbook. They worked in silence, momentarily for about half an hour until Shadow pulled off his headphones and stretched his arms out with a groan.

“What are you reading over there, anyway?”

Silver looked up. “Hmm?”

“What are you studying?”

“Oh! Um- World History. It’s just a core-level class, but it’s needed for my major. History is the only thing I can keep a focus on for the most part.”

Shadow tilted his head before moving his laptop to the side to get a better look at Silver’s textbook. “Really? Why’s that?”

He shrugged. “It’s kinda stupid but I’ve always felt that the past holds the key to anyone’s future. Hell, even the whole world’s future! If you don’t understand the past then you can’t build the foundation in the present necessary to withstand tomorrow.”

Shadow didn’t respond immediately. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Why would that be stupid?”

Silver looked up from his note-taking. “Hmm?”

“Why would any of that be a stupid reason to pursue history? What you said makes perfect sense. So tell me: what are you going to do with a history degree?”

Again...Silver lowered his head. His eyes skimmed over the text in his book, hardly reading it. “I...don’t know. I figured I’d figure it out as I go- just picking a major that suited what I was interested in. There’s a job for anything today. I just have to figure out what I want to do with it, first, I guess.”

“Now  _ that  _ sounds stupid.”

“What do you mean?! It’s not like all my studies just sit in my head. I use it when I can.”

“Like when?”

“Well...sometimes I get the jump on people on Chirpper. I’ve made a few tweets that have gone viral and now I have 4,000 followers!”

“That  _ is  _ impressive, but is that what you want? Being a social media influencer? If that’s the route you’re going then shouldn’t you be off studying marketing instead?”

Silver fell silent. It was then that Shadow realized that he may have been coming across as harsh and judgmental.

“Sorry. That’s not what I meant. Just- what you early...I understand what you meant. About how the key to your past unlocks your future. Uh…” Shadow gulped for a moment and pulled his headphones off completely this time.

“Mabe you’re right, though. I mean, if I don’t have any clue what to do with my degree then haven’t I wasted my money in school?”

“No! Forget that. Listen erh- Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll find your way like everyone else does. Don’t worry about it too much.” 

Silver was confused as he glanced up and stared at Shadow, still with his arms crossed. First, he tells him that his career path is dumb, and then tells him to continue down it anyway? What was he trying to say to him? Silver raised a brow as his fingers tightened around the edge of his tablet. “What do you mean? Make up your mind, why don’t you?”

“Look, just forget I said anything.” Before Silver could respond, Shadow stood up. He shoved his hands into his jacket pocket and he walked off, heading towards the bathrooms on the other side of the cafe.

Irish happened to be at the counter serving a drink to Big when Shadow walked past him with a scowl on his face as he entered the bathroom. He turned over to Silver and their eyes met. Too far away to speak, hand gestures were all that was needed to get his point across. Silver had screwed up.

“........”  _ What just happened? Did I upset him that much?  _ Silver couldn’t tell, but he didn’t want to press the issue any further. So long as Shadow was away, he’d focus on his studies. Yet the minute he picked up his highlighter or began tapping on his tablet, he found his mind wandering about, replaying the conversation in his head, trying to pinpoint where exactly the conversation had taken a turn for the worse.

He hadn’t said anything  _ that  _ disturbing, had he? Was Shadow sensitive over career choices? Talk of college? The best thing he could think of was to just apologize when the other got back and try to make amends as best he could.

“Here. My treat.” Shadow sat back down and slid a small dessert dish over to silver with a colorful slice of matcha cake with white chocolate icing on it. “Sorry about earlier.”

Silver’s mind was blank. “Um...thank you.” He was hesitant to pick up the fork. From the edge of his eye, he looked up at Shadow getting settled in his chair with a refill of black coffee and his treat. Maybe it would be best to try and ease the atmosphere a bit more instead of pressing the conversation any further.

“No worries. That green-haired guy just gave it to me. Couldn’t understand a word he was saying.”

Silver picked up the fork and snickered. “Did you wash your hands?” he asked as he flashed a cocky, sarcastic smirk.

Shadow looked up at him, a bit surprised, but it quickly registered, and he chuckled. “No,” he answered sinisterly. “And I didn’t wipe with the  _ paper,  _ either.”

They both laughed and sighed momentarily before going back to their work. After some time, the mood seemed to shift, and Silver spoke up again. “Hey, Shadow? What drew you into music, anyway? You’re not in school for it or anything, right?”

“I used to be. But I dropped out. Didn’t agree with any of the programs my school offered.”

So that was it. Shadow must have only been trying to look out for him if he had dropped out of college already. He was just worried that Silver was going to make the same mistake of wasting his time. Right? How could he not be worried or annoyed if that was the case?

“That makes sense. I like your music, Shadow. You don’t need some fancy degree to be a rockstar.”

“Oh really?” he smirked. “If you like it so much then how about you finally come to one of our shows?”

“Fine! I promise. Next time you have a show, I’ll come. No excuses.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow night at Metal CD at nine o’clock, won’t I?”

Silver hesitated, but then nodded as he wrote a small note for himself. “You sure will. Metal CD. Got it. Is being on stage that important to you, Shadow?”

“It’s the most exciting part of the whole thing. For a few minutes, you get on that stage and it’s hot, and the lights are blinding. Sometimes you can’t even see the audience, but you know they’re there when you hear them screaming, for you. All because you wrote a song they love. It’s chaotic, but intoxicating every time.”

He tossed Silver his Bluetooth headphones. “Here. Take a listen. This is the demo for tomorrow. Almost finished.”

Silver caught the headphones, almost dropping them in the process. He held the phone a slight distance from his ear in case the volume was too high for him, but slipped them over his head when the digital guitar riff kicked in. And...were those police sirens? And the backing vocals! They were faint, and everything sounded weird considering it was all made with synthetic instruments, but Silver found it oddly exciting, even addicting and catchy. A second or two more and he started to bob his head up and down, even tapping his foot.

Shadow knew that look on his face. He was hooked. There was doubt about it. This time, Silver would be going to his next show.


End file.
